Prevalence of accidental project managers in the Information Communications Technology industry

Abstract

IT projects continue to fail at an alarming rate. The majority of IT initiatives have a significant impact within organisations due to the integrative nature of IT systems and as a result the cost of this failure is high. The purpose of this research report is to investigate the prevalence of „accidental project managers‟ in the ICT industry (employees that have demonstrated technical expertise and been promoted to project management positions without any regard for project manager training and competencies) and examine what effect these untrained project managers have on project performance. A descriptive, quantitative research methodology was employed, and the sample that supported this research was taken from members of the Internet Service Provider‟s Association and the Project Management Institute of South Africa. The results indicated a positive association between project manager training level and projects being completed within budget, on time, and resulting in an operational system. The results also supported a correlative relationship between project manager training level and overall project outcome. These findings highlight the importance to organisations of investing in project manager training and developing effective recruitment criteria in order to boost IT project success rates.